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WeatherTech Championship

Nasr Holds Off Taylor to Take Detroit Win for AXR

Felipe Nasr and Eric Curran score victory in Detroit for AXR…

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Felipe Nasr held off a hard-charging Ricky Taylor to win the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Detroit’s Belle Isle circuit.

Quick pit work by the Action Express Racing crew and a rapid lap by Nasr when it counted most put the No. 31 Cadillac DPi-V.R was in a position to bring home the win in General Motors’ backyard.

As Ricky Taylor climbed aboard the No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05, Nasr turned the race’s fastest lap to jump to the top spot and pull out a lead of over five seconds.

Armed with four fresh Continental tires, Taylor set to work clawing away at Nasr’s advantage, but ultimately came up 1.016 seconds short of tracking down the race lead.

Dane Cameron ensured both Penske Acuras finished on the podium in Roger Penske’s own event, taking home third in the No. 6 machine.

Renger van der Zande and Jordan Taylor were fifth in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac, while Filipe Albuquerque coasted across the finish line on fumes to finish sixth in the No. 5 Cadillac for AXR.

The No. 77 Mazda Team Joest Mazda RT24-P of Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez was classified in ninth after running out of fuel on the final lap.

Trouble also found the pole-sitting No. 22 Nissan Onroak DPi of Pipo Derani just minutes into the race.

Derani made a strong start and was running in the race lead when he fell off the pace after reporting a gear selection problem.

The Tequila Patron ESM team brought Derani into the pit lane a few laps later and replaced the steering wheel before sending the Brazilian back out on track.

Derani and co-driver Johannes van Overbeek, who had a spin in the final 10 minutes, soldiered on for a 7th-place finish.

The No. 99 JDC-Miller Motorsports duo of Misha Goikhberg and Stephen Simpson saw a strong drive go awry when Simpson was forced to limp back to pit lane with rear-end damage, following contact on-track with the No. 14 3GT Racing Lexus RCF GT3.

Simpson had been running in the sixth position at the time but was classified 11th.

Other cars to encounter problems included the No. 55 Mazda which retired from the race with a driveshaft issue in the first ten minutes and the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Cadillac which suffered a gearbox problem just under an hour into the race.

RESULTS: Chevrolet Sports Car Classic

Ryan Myrehn is an Indianapolis-based broadcaster and reporter. In addition to his work covering primarily domestic sports car racing for Sportscar365, he is the lead announcer for SRO America's TV coverage as well as a pit reporter for IndyCar Radio. Myrehn, a graduate of DePauw University, is also the host of Sportscar365's “Double Stint” Podcast.

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